MBA Graduation

As I've lamented many times on this blog before about homework, it's only fitting to end my grad school chapter with a blog post.  For 2.5 years, I worked full-time, did my DAR/American Legion stuff, and lived life while spending many nights and weekends pursuing two degrees:  my MBA and my MS in Marketing.  Thanks to Indiana University's Kelley School of Business, I was able to do it mostly from home, giving me flexibility to travel and schedule and prioritize to my heart's desire.

And now, it's over.  I have the diplomas, and I even got to eat cookies with the school monogram.

Not everyone chooses to walk at their graduation ceremony, but for me this was a homecoming.  I grew up in the same city as the university, and it was Mother's Day weekend.  I knew that my parents would be proud to see me graduate.  So Dan, his mother, and I road tripped home to Indiana, and I was joined by my parents and a bunch of my aunts, uncles, and cousins for the ceremony at Indiana's Auditorium.

I'm placing bets that at least 50% of these kids will be IU Hoosiers someday!

#blessed with the best family

I also got to celebrate with my friends, including teammates from my first and second year case study competitions.  It felt like we'd come full circle on this journey.

The degree was about me, but graduation was about FAMILY.  Dan supported me in so many ways during this process, giving up time with me, picking up my slack around the house, and more.  And he was so proud at my graduation!

Oh yeah, and my mother prepared pounds of Korean short ribs for my visit, a pricey favorite food of mine, and Dad grilled them.  ZOMG.  Yes yes yes.  Degree completion is delicious.

SCHOOL'S OUT FOREVER!

St. Elmo Steak House

Since I celebrated my recent graduation and promotion at Etch with my mother-in-law, it was only fair that I take my parents out to celebrate too, right?  (Even better, I get to go to both meals!)  So I was able to finagle my way into a reservation at St. Elmo Steak House in Indianapolis, serving up some of the best steaks (and THE best shrimp cocktail) in town since 1902.

This was my first trip to St. Elmo, but I've been wanting to go for years.  (And yes, it's the steakhouse Ron Swanson loves on Parks and Rec.)  We had a reservation, but since we were early we headed up to their 1933 Lounge.  But then we got seated so quickly, we headed right back downstairs to get our meal on!

Of course, we had to have their shrimp cocktail.  The shrimp are jumbo, and the sauce has so much horseradish that it packs a real punch!  The kick is quick, and the results are delicious.  It's no wonder this is what they're famous for after all these years.

For my main course, I went for a filet mignon, with their red skinned mashed potatoes as my side.  Solid choice!  You also get navy bean soup or tomato juice with your meal.  The steak was wonderful!  Definitely a high-end steak, perfectly cooked, juicy, not needing any kind of condiment.

Dad ordered steak too, but Mom, who doesn't eat red meat, got a beautiful seafood pasta.  She had such a big plate, she had enough to take home for leftovers, which always makes my Mom a happy camper.  (2-for-1 meal, eh?)

I don't always get dessert when we're out, but we got one to share because I got seduced by the menu.  White chocolate blueberry bread pudding, with bourbon cream sauce and vanilla ice cream.  AMAZING.  We ate it all, and it was one of my favorite parts of a really great meal.  Don't skip dessert!

It was nice to be able to give something special back to my parents, after the years and years they've given to us and supported us.  They are the kind of parents you're lucky to have, and I hope to be able to treat them to some nice things in the future too.

Weekend in Bloomington

Back in June, Dan and I headed home to Bloomington for my cousin's wedding and Father's Day weekend.  It was a quick trip, but Dan and I got to check out a couple of local spots before heading to Terre Haute for the festivities.

For lunch, we headed to Do: Asian Fusion Cuisine & Lounge for some Korean food.  Because I get to have Korean food in NYC and LA pretty much every year, it gets me on this Korean BBQ kick.  I've been working my way through some of the Korean spots in Bloomington when I get home, but I've yet to find one that nails it the way bigger city places do.

I really liked the ambiance of Do.  It was clean and kind of wooden-chic.  Since it was a weekend, they only served the Dinner menu; I wish they'd serve the lunch menu on weekends too!  We were given a salad (not my thing) and some miso soup to start.  We both ordered Bulgogi as our main dish.

I really liked the Bulgogi.  I felt like it was marinated better than a lot of places, and the portion size was adequate.  While the price was steeper than I'm used to for the portion (again, you get spoiled in LA/NYC) I would definitely eat here again when I'm downtown or near 4th Street.  Dan enjoyed his meal too.  The service was good.  I noticed grill tables outside in their porch area, so I'm hoping that means they do some Korean BBQ out there in better weather.  I think that would be great!

After lunch, we hit up Cardinal Spirits, a relatively new distillery right off the B-line trail.  It's a clean and modern place that seems perfect for cocktails on warm days or a break from the trail.  We loved the clean design and cool labels.

Cardinal Spirits is a great addition to the Btown scene; I love that it has a great porch overlooking the B-line, and that it has great craft cocktails. I really miss the wonderful drinks they served at The Rail, so it makes me happy to see similar care given to mixology here. I had the Gin Gimlet and Dan had the Negroni special, as it happened to be launch day for their new drier gin. Really well-priced cocktails.  We loved both, and bought a bottle of vodka and the smooth American Gin to take home.

I will be honest, the only reason I'd heard about the place as an out-of-state visitor was because I used to follow a Btown fashion blogger (Jessica at What I Wore) and she plugs it since her husband is involved in the biz. She, too, loved The Rail so I was pleased to find this place offered great drinks as well.  Yet another instance where blogging and reading blogs pays off.

Then... it was off to wedding time!  Even though Dad missed the photo ops, we had a great time celebrating my cousin JR's wedding.  The reception was held at an old, restored theatre, so the whole wedding (from the invitations to the bridesmaids' dresses to the decor) had an Old Hollywood meets Great Gatsby meets Art Deco theme.  Definitely something I could get behind!

Dan, me, and Mom

Congratulations to the bride and groom, who have since gone on a beautiful honeymoon and seem to be enjoying everything married life offers quite immensely.  It was a great excuse to get back to Bloomington for a quick weekend getaway, and remind myself why I love my home state so much.

Uptown Cafe

I returned home for a quick 24-hour visit a couple weekends ago, and Uptown Cafe was on the menu.  Even though they serve other meals, the only time I've ever eaten here has been for brunch.  Because brunch is basically my favorite meal on earth.

I ordered bacon and a scrambled egg as a side to my brunch dish, because protein makes me feel fuller.  I probably didn't need it, but isn't it pretty?  The bacon was perfectly crispy, the way I like it.

For my main dish, the pièce de résistance, I ordered the beautiful Creme Brûlée French Toast.  It was as delicious as it sounds, almost like a dessert for breakfast.  It tasted more like a bread pudding than a French toast, super thick and a huge slice.  The fresh fruit and powdered sugar were perfect, no syrup or anything extra needed.  I highly recommend it if you're visiting the restaurant for brunch!  Very heavy, though, so be forewarned.  It was a true indulgence.

Service at the Uptown is consistently good, and while there is often a wait I believe it's worth it.  Call ahead for a reservation like we did with our party of eight.  It's also clean and friendly, and conveniently located just off the town square downtown.  Try it sometime!


I also visited Oliver Winery Downtown and Korea Restaurant; click the links for my Yelp reviews!

Anyetsang's Little Tibet

I've never tried Tibetan food before, and at one point my hometown had TWO Tibetan restaurants downtown.  But we're not the most adventurous family, so I never ate there.  On this trip home, after picking up Sissy and her boyfriend, we decided to grab lunch at Anyetsang's Little Tibet.  Located on our 4th Street "restaurant row" of sorts, where a bunch of old houses became restaurants, it's definitely not the kind of place you'd find in every city.

Sorry I forgot to take an exterior photo of my own... this one is from a lovely TripAdvisor review!

The menu has a lot of vegetarian and gluten-free options.  There are options labeled Thai, as well as some that resemble Indian cuisine.  Tibet is landlocked by other nations, so that makes a lot of sense to me!  To start, I chose the Temo, which are steamed Tibetan bread rolls served with melted butter.  They tasted like eating dough, if that makes sense.  It was very tasty, hot, and soft.  I think I might have liked them with a little honey or cinnamon sugar too!

Temo

For my main dish, I ordered the Sha Balay, pan-fried dough patties filled with seasoned ground beef and yellow onion.   After the temo, the portions were so big I could only eat half of the delicious patties.  I liked alternating dipping them in the hot sauce and the soy sauce.  To me, they tasted kind of like pot stickers or dumplings.  I took the rest home, as they would be great snacks later!
The service as a bit slow, and I was never brought the rice I requested, but that's okay... I had way too much to eat anyways!

Overall, I'm glad I tried out the food at Little Tibet.  It's funny how I never gave Bloomington credit for its food scene until I left, and I'm only now just working my way through a number of them.  Just one more hometown restaurant I've been able to cross off my wishlist.

Thanksgiving Weekend Recap

Dan and I spent the long weekend over Thanksgiving in my hometown of Bloomington, Indiana.  It's not too far to drive up for a little getaway, and we really enjoyed our trip.  Fun fact, Lil Bub is from my hometown, and I used the visit as an excuse to snap a photo with her beautiful mural by the artist VEKS.

Dan and I headed north on Thanksgiving Day, in time to eat  dinner with my parents.  We actually ate a bit early, because my Mom wanted to drag me to Kohl's for their 6pm doorbuster deals... it was madness!

Mom's Thanksgiving Feast

Afterwards, we met up with Dad and Dan to see Interstellar.  Dan and I really liked the movie, though it was almost three hours long.  The cast was great, and it really kind of blew my mind in a good way... though it was a little hard for me to believe Matthew McConaughey as a brilliant NASA engineer/pilot.
On Friday, I met an old friend for coffee and picked up some Indiana University gear at the Indiana Shop.  Dan and I then hit up Function Brewing to check out their craft beers.  The samplers we got were awesome!  The Cherry Ratio Golden Ale was my favorite.  It's just off the square downtown.  We then met up with my parents for dinner at Taste of India before heading with Dad to the IU basketball game.

On Saturday, we tailgated and went to the IU vs. Purdue football game, the big rivalry game of the year.  It got chillier towards the end, and the gameplay was sloppy, but it was great to see the win!  I love going to the games now that I'm officially an IU student; it just gives me a renewed pride in being a Hoosier in more ways than one.

We headed south after the game to eat dinner with our extended family, which was soooooo amazing as usual.  There are many great cooks in our family, and I got to see my cousins and their babies which is my favorite.  We left on Sunday after Dad cooked breakfast for us... yum!
I loved our visit to Indiana.  It's so nice to spend time with family and enjoy a hometown that I never fully appreciated until I left.
How did your Thanksgiving Weekend go?

Tivoli Theatre in Spencer

The heart of most Indiana counties seems to be centered around a town square courthouse.  Sadly, so many of these squares are full of empty storefronts, not the hubs they once were.  In Spencer, that feels like the case sometimes.  Not far from where my parents live in Bloomington, there isn't much going on downtown in Spencer.  But the Tivoli Theatre, restored by funds from Cook, is quaint enough to attract my parents to go to a different town to see movies!  Tivoli shows first run films on the weekends, and it's only $5 for adults.  There's definitely a line and a crowd.  I can't believe this place was once at risk of teardown.

Old Photos from Tivoli Website

Mom and I went to see Maleficent.  The movie was okay, but I was mostly impressed by the theatre.  It seemed a lot of attention to detail was taken in the restoration, and the entire operation (minus one employee) is run by volunteers from the community.  Ticket takers, popcorn wranglers, even the projection and cleanup crews are volunteers.  Talk about a real gem.  There's also old movie posters (I wonder if they're from the old shows at the theatre) and retro tiling in the bathroom.  They even play the old "Let's All Go to the Lobby" concessions cartoon before the movie.  It feels like stepping back in time!

If you live around Bloomington, it might be worth a trip to check this place out.  It's wayyyy cheaper than the big theatres in town, and you're supporting historic preservation.

Scholars Inn Bakehouse in Bloomington

The Scholars Inn Bakehouse is a Bloomington institution.  That is, it is to me!  It's been on the square since I can remember...  and we arrived in Btown twenty years ago.  While I was home, I met up with my friend RM for breakfast at this great little bakery/restaurant.

There are a wide variety of breads and pastries, but there's also an all-day breakfast menu!  You can order lunch (sandwiches, etc.) too.  You order at the counter, then take your number to your seat to wait for the deliciousness.

RM ordered the biscuits and gravy.  I don't usually go for those north of the Mason-Dixon line, but these looked delicious!  She added some hot sauce, and it was a hearty meal.

I ordered the Bakehouse Oatmeal and a side of scrambled eggs.  I like to have protein for breakfast to keep me feeling full.  I was pleasantly surprised by the slice of toast included, because the Bakehouse has amazing breads.  The oatmeal could have used a little more water, but the strawberries were incredibly fresh and perfect.  The granola was so good, I may add it to my oatmeal in the future!

If you're in Bloomington for a visit, I'd say that coffee/breakfast here is a must-do.  It's what the locals like!  It's perfectly located to enjoy festivals downtown and even the Farmer's Market too.

Sunday Best: Workout Wear

I didn't have a moment to take a 'real' outfit photo this week, since I was at school in Indiana for my MBA residency.  But when I went for a bike ride with my parents yesterday, we snapped a photo that I realized could showcase one of my workout outfits.

Over the past couple of years, I have gotten rid of a lot of my hodgepodge old workout clothes and pajamas and replaced them with mix 'n' match separate and matching sets.  There's just something about cute workout gear and matching PJs that makes me incredibly happy.  This outfit is from Fabletics, which I have reviewed on this blog before.

Clear Creek Trail

Top & Running Skirt: Fabletics (click here for my referral link) Sunglasses: H&M Shoes:  Asics Bike:  Trek Verve Hybrid
My outfit took me from shopping at Target, to breakfast with a friend, to bike riding with my parents for 5 miles on a local trail.  I don't usually run errands in workout clothes, but this running skirt and top combo didn't feel too out of place as I was all over town.  Plus, it was nice and functional for the bike ride.
I think what I've learned from this week's edition of Sunday Best is that you can feel good about how you look even when you're working out!  I definitely felt comfortable yesterday.  And we were even able to take a group selfie:

Check out the rest of the bloggers linking up for Sunday Best at The Modern Austen!